Takin’ the Low Road

Putting an F-100 in the Weeds Without IFS

Stance and attitude go hand in hand when you’re talking about hot rod pickups. Or, put another way, nothing says “farm truck” like an F-100 with its nose in the air and a 6-inch gap between the fender and top of the tire!

Achieving that perfect nose-down stance has been a quest for Effie owners ever since the first ’53s rolled down the assembly line. Through the years rodders have used just about any means available to get that desired look, from tweaked springs and stretched axles to all manner of frame alterations and IFS conversions. You’d have thought that a simpler solution would have come along by now, and as a matter of fact, it has.

We first got a peek at the new dropped axle available from Mid Fifty F-100 Parts last year at the F-100 Supernationals. Right away we could tell it was a home-run product. After all, who could argue with the idea of lowering your ’53-56 F-100 3 or 4 inches simply by swapping axles? And this wasn’t some cobbled-together experiment of a part, either. With a 2-inch seamless tubular steel center, CNC- machined billet steel ends, and laser-cut spring pads, it appeared to be a stout piece that was engineered to do the job properly. Home run, indeed!

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The installation we’re showing you here took place at Classic Performance Products with Jim Ries’ ’56 F-100 acting as the guinea pig. Mid Fifty supplied 2-inch dropped springs, as well as the 3-inch axle, making for a pretty substantial drop. The springs also move the axle 1 1/2 inches forward to better center the wheels in the fenders. In addition to the lowering, the F-100 was treated to a CPP disc brake kit, new shocks, new shock mounts, plus fresh bushings and hardware; pretty much a total frontal rehab.

For the most part, swapping axles is a fairly simple remove-and-replace procedure that can be accomplished using basic tools (though more extreme measures may be needed to disassemble the crusty old stuff). So with the formalities out of the way, let’s watch Alan Crouse put this Effie’s nose where it belongs–in the dirt!